The Top 100 Albums of the 1960s
The decade the album became an art form: the Beatles and Dylan, Motown and Stax, psychedelia, modal and free jazz, ranked.
100 albums
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1
RockSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The studio became an instrument on this psychedelic landmark.
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
RockThe Velvet Underground & Nico
Few bought it at first, but it shaped decades of alternative rock.
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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12
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13
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14
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15
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16
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17
RockThe Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Ray Davies’s affectionate portrait of English life.
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18
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19
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20
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21
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22
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23
Soul & R&BModern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles crosses genre and racial lines with country standards.
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24
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25
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26
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27
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28
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29
Folk & singer-songwriterSongs of Leonard Cohen
The poet’s debut, with “Suzanne” and “So Long, Marianne”.
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30
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31
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32
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33
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34
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35
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36
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37
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38
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39
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40
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41
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42
JazzSunday at the Village Vanguard
Live trio recordings made shortly before bassist Scott LaFaro’s death.
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43
JazzFree Jazz: A Collective Improvisation
Two quartets improvising together on the album that named a movement.
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44
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45
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46
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47
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48
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49
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50
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51
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52
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53
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54
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55
Folk & singer-songwriterCrosby, Stills & Nash
Close vocal harmonies that defined California folk-rock.
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56
Folk & singer-songwriterClouds
Includes her own versions of “Both Sides, Now” and “Chelsea Morning”.
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57
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58
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59
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60
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61
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62
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63
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64
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65
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66
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67
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68
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69
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70
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71
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72
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73
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74
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75
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76
BluesKing of the Delta Blues Singers
Johnson’s 1930s recordings, which inspired generations of rock guitarists.
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77
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78
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79
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80
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81
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82
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83
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84
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85
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86
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87
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88
Folk & singer-songwriterJohn Wesley Harding
Spare, biblical songs including “All Along the Watchtower”.
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89
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90
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91
Latin & BrazilianTropicália ou Panis et Circencis
The manifesto of Tropicália, with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa.
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92
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93
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94
Latin & BrazilianHerb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66
Breezy bossa-pop including “Mas que Nada”.
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95
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96
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97
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98
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99
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100
Folk & singer-songwriterSounds of Silence
The folk-rock breakthrough built around “The Sound of Silence”.
No albums match those filters.